Thursday, January 10, 2013

First Minister Alex Salmond claimed legal advice had been sought during tv interview.PROVING the worthlessness and indeed, damage to reality by party political media campaigns & a so called “independent inquiry” undertaken by persons appointed by those accused and under investigation, Scotland’s struggling First Minister Alex Salmond has yet again been cleard of a complaint lodged under the mysterious “Ministerial Code”, this time Mr Salmond being cleared of claiming on television he had legal advice to the effect that an independent Scotland could remain in the European Union, even though Mr Salmond actually said those very words in a BBC television interview with Andrew Neil.

You decide -First Minister Alex Salmond claimed he had legal advice an independent Scotland will remain in the EU

The full report on the ‘investigation’ into Mr Salmond can be viewed online HERE The Scottish Government’s version of the timeline of the events is available HERE

Predictably, the Scottish Government’s media machine has issued a long tirade (reprinted below) with quotes from the First Minister, congratulating himself upon his apparent exoneration from misinforming & misleading the public on the EU legal advice claims.

It is rumoured the entire PR driven incident along with the enquiry has cost the taxpayer around £50,000 to come up with an intense media campaign, supportive political appearances, snide media comments & speeches, supportive online media forum comments and a report to clear Mr Salmond of a a habit which the First Minister and the SNP will be remembered for in 2012, the year Scots finally found out the Nationalists are like all other political parties, and no different from the ones they castigate.

Political observers will also recall 2012 for being the year in which Mr Salmond was accused of being an “instinctive liar” by Scottish Labour, the party who along with the Scottish Conservatives & Liberal Democrats have made instinctive lying in public life a national sport, now joined in earnest by the SNP.

A political insider commented on the fiasco : “Clearly the European Union can do without another nationalistic leader who's Government clears him of lying on television, even when the camera suggests he did exactly that”

The First Minister acted fully in accordance with the Scottish Ministerial Code in relation to the debate on the existence or content of legal advice on an independent Scotland’s continued membership of the European Union, an independent report has concluded.

The First Minister appointed Sir David Bell KCB – an independent adviser to the Scottish Government on the Ministerial Code – to conduct the investigation following a complaint by Catherine Stihler MEP.

The report, which has been published today, says: “I have not found you, or the Scottish Government, to have breached the Ministerial Code in respect of any complaints made by Ms Stihler. I have though recommended that the Scottish Government considers revising those parts of the code relating to legal advice.”

Sir David examined five separate grounds of complaint from Ms Stihler – and in each case he found that the First Minister and the Scottish Government had acted fully in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

The report also concludes that “the Edinburgh Agreement was the appropriate moment to seek specific legal advice from the Law Officers … it was only when the details of the referendum process became clear that you were in a position to seek such advice.”

Sir David also recommends that the Scottish Government considers whether the part of the Ministerial Code relating to legal advice could be redrafted in a clearer and more accessible form – a recommendation which the Government accepts.

First Minister Alex Salmond said: “I would like to thank Sir David for his very thorough and detailed report, the findings of which clearly demonstrate that there was no breach of the Ministerial Code on this matter.”

“I welcome the report which demonstrates that I and the rest of the Scottish Government acted entirely in accordance with the Scottish Ministerial Code. I also welcome his conclusion that the signing of the Edinburgh Agreement was the appropriate moment at which to seek specific legal advice on an independent Scotland’s continued membership of the European Union.”

“Sir David also recommends that the Scottish Government considers whether the section of its Ministerial Code relating to legal advice provided to Ministers should be redrafted to make it clearer. That is a recommendation I am happy to accept, and work will now be taken forward by Government officials with that aim in mind.

“This has been the sixth complaint to be referred to the independent panel of advisers I introduced in 2008 to rule on these matters. I am delighted that each complaint has been dismissed and the advisers concluded my ministers and I have acted entirely properly at all times.”

Haha yes I think Puff the Magic Haggis has ran out of puff when up against Neil.All that bluster and bollocks don't really work outside Haggisland.God knows what foreign govts think of him when he turns up with a begging bowl and all the usual bs tales of him and his SNP thugs being indispensable to the planet

Yes this is the SNP these days just like all other political parties a bunch of liars and I am happy to say I gave up my membership as soon as I discovered all the lying backstabbing and infighting at their 2012 conference.

The main problem with this inquiry like any inquiries into Mr Salmond's behaviour is this : You will not be able to find any academic or person who feels they can safely find him guilty simply because Salmond will turn his cyberfilth on them to ruin their careers and lives.You only need to look at the comments sections of Scotland's newspapers to see the way the Cybernats operate and how they tear to shreds anyone who disagrees with the SNP party line.If this is not enough to put anyone off having anything to do with this vile set of politicians well there are probably a few stronger examples of how the SNP go about enforcing their views on others.

Is this so difficult to understand? After a yes vote in 2014, Scotland will renegotiate it's membership from within the EU (at that point we will still be in the UK). "Puff the magic haggis" as you call him, is not and does not an independence movement make. Keep channelling your vitriol is his direction though and you'll miss the point at which the YesScotland campaign becomes unstoppable.